The present invention relates generally to the field of food serving systems and, in particular, to the field of breath guards for food serving systems.
Conventional food serving systems include a base that houses a number of pans or other containers configured to hold prepared food exposed to facilitate serving to a customer. The base may include heating and/or refrigeration components configured to keep the food at a desired serving temperature while the food is served to a customer. To protect the exposed food, the food serving systems conventionally include a breath or sneeze guard coupled to the top of the base. Breath guards conventionally include one or more transparent panels that extend between a customer and the food. The breath guard provides a barrier between the customer and the prepared food in order to prevent potential contamination and maintain a healthy environment for both customers and foodservice staff.
Breath guards for food serving systems are configured differently depending upon the situation in which they are used. In a buffet setting, customers access food displayed in the food serving system from one or both of a front side and a back side of the food serving system. Accordingly, breath guards used in such situations leave at least one side facing the customer uncovered to facilitate access to the food. In a cafeteria setting, food service staff stand on one side of the food serving system and serve food to a customer located on the other side. In such a situation, the customer does not require access to the food serving system. Accordingly, breath guards used in such a situation block a front side that faces the customer to protect the food. Some conventional breath guards provide a single fixed configuration that is useful in either a buffet setting or a cafeteria setting. Such breath guards limit the food serving system from being used in multiple types of situations. Other types of conventional breath guards are adjustable. However, adjustment of such breath guards typically requires more than one operator, especially when the breath guard is configured to cover a large area. Accordingly, there is a need for a breath guard that can be easily reconfigured for use in both a buffet setting and a cafeteria setting by a single operator.